St Andrews, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“The Smeddle Family has consistently turned out very good food served by very knowledgeable and capable waiting staff” (all backed up by a heavyweight wine list) at this famous, upscale inn – sensitively modernised over the years and set “in a tiny village just outside St Andrews”. One reporter gives us the local lowdown: “As it happens the family have just announced that the business is up for sale. (March 2025). They have run it for twenty years and took it to one Michelin Star. Before them the legendary David Wilson ran it for thirty five years. Watch this space for details of the new owner…” [no transaction has yet been announced as of October 2025]

2024 Review: MasterChef: The Professionals winner “Jamie Scott is one of the UK’s finest unsung chefs” (setting aside that 2014 honour), say fans of the restaurant-with-rooms he launched with wife Kelly in 2016; “the wonderful food together with the young, local but knowledgeable serving team” make for a winning combination and “a window seat looking over the Tay estuary is a bonus” (indeed, the room has “some of the best-ever views”).

“Fabulous” and “innovative modern cuisine” have earned an outstanding reputation for this “welcoming and unpretentious” village inn from chef James Ferguson and front of house Alethea Palmer, who worked together at London’s Rochelle Canteen. One reporter hailed it as their “current favourite Scottish restaurant”, while Chitra Ramaswamy of The Times, in her January 2025 rave review, was brought “close to tears” by warm madeleines at the end of a “peerless” meal. Top Menu Tip – “the flatbreads, humble as they may be, are outstanding with a warm garlicky bean purée”.